TikTok will develop “tools to improve attribution for artists and songwriters,” the companies said in a statement Thursday, marking a key sticking point for the music industry as it faces the rapid proliferation of AI-generated material online. dealt with. TikTok has more than 1 billion users, but UMG says the app only accounts for 1% of its revenue.
TikTok did not provide further details beyond the statement. UMG did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Audio deepfake technology that allows ordinary people to replicate famous artists is on the rise. If you search for the video “Taylor Swift AI” on TikTok, you'll see several videos featuring AI-generated songs in the artist's voice, and the popularity of using this technology to create covers of other artists' songs. There are also genres. Although most of these examples are classified as AI-generated, they still accumulate hundreds of thousands of views.
In an open letter in January, UMG complained that TikTok was “flooded” with AI-generated music and “sponsored the replacement of artists by AI.” The label began importing music from TikTok in February as negotiations between the two companies dragged on. That effort was potentially undermined by Swift, the biggest artist whose music continued to appear on the platform even after releasing her album on April 19th.
UMG is also the first partner in YouTube's new “AI Incubator.” The organization was established last August to handle copyright management and monetization of AI-generated music on the giant video platform.
